1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a run-off trough for a down spout associated with a gutter for a house or building. More particularly, the present invention relates to a light-weight hollow run-off trough.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been well known in the art to provide the down spouts of gutters with run-off troughs for carrying the run-off water away from the house or building. Traditionally, such run-off troughs have been formed of a block of dense material such as concrete with a trough-like depression in the top surface thereof. The rear end of the trough was placed below the outlet at the distal end of a down spout and the trough carried the run-off water from rain or melting snow away from the house.
Recently, light-weight run-off troughs have been developed which have been formed from a thin sheet of molded plastic material having an outer configuration in the form of the traditional concrete run-off trough. These light weight run-off troughs were far easier to handle and transport than the traditional troughs, and were easily stacked, but had the problem of instability. That is, due to their light weight, these hollow plastic troughs tended to move about or be blown away during a storm. Securement structures have been developed for securing such light weight troughs to the ground, such as spikes which can be driven into the ground and which include portions for affixing to the trough so as to hold the trough firmly on the ground below the distal end of the down spout. However, such spikes tended to loosen when the ground was soaked following a rain, and their ability to secure the run-off trough was therefore limited.
Attempts have also been made to attach the run-off trough to the end of the down spout. An example of such an attempt may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,084,479. In this patent, the run-off trough was secured to, and held by, the distal end of the down spout, by means of a screw passing through both the down spout and the trough. However, these troughs have also been found to be unsatisfactory for several reasons. First, the run-off trough was manufactured and supplied with the down spout itself so that they could not normally be separately purchased. Further, the attachment of the trough to the down spout required modifications to the distal end of the down spout as well as the need for tools such as drills. Finally, because the trough was held and supported by the down spout, it could weaken the down spout and possibly cause the down spout to become detached from the gutter. That is, if the trough became clogged with leaves, for example, following a rain, water could subsequently build up in the trough and the weight of the water would be transferred to the supporting down spout, thereby stressing the down spout supports.